Don't Leave Me All Alone
by EvilFireWitch
Summary: A great tragedy has struck our Favorite Trio, and Hermione must cling to Ron and sanity in order to survive.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: Really, guys, be brutal with me, here. I need it. I haven't written much of anything outside of classes for ages, and I need all of the criticism I can get–and I mean EVERYTHING! Please help me out, and be harsh if necessary. I love you guys! :)  
  
Disclaimer: Psh. Yeah right, like I'd own that... (Wish I did, though!)  
  
Don't Leave Me All Alone  
  
Prologue  
  
Her tangled, chestnut-colored hair whipped around her face, chin held bravely up, tears dripping down her pale cheeks. The wind tossed and turned, mocking her agony, pushing and shoving her. Her robes billowed about her, while the clouds above threatened. From where she stood, everything within miles was visible. The lake, disturbed by the wind; happy students running about, glad that exams were over, all speckled points on the green, green grass of Hogwarts' grounds. The ground was at least a mile from the top of the tower--to fall would be her death.  
  
Which was exactly what she wanted.  
  
Her breath caught in her throat as a sob escaped her lips. She held her arms out to her sides, took a deep breath, and dove off the tower.  
  
Author's Note: Yeah, it's short, but I wanted it that way. It's more meaningful this way, I think. What do YOU think? Hmm? You can tell me by pushing that ickle button down there, you know... winkwink 


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: You think I own this? runs away laughing hysterically No, seriously, I own the plot and nothing else! If I did own Harry Potter, would I be writing this? No, way! (Well, maybe, but that's not the point...)  
  
And we go back in time...  
  
Don't Leave Me All Alone  
  
Chapter One  
  
"No! It can't be true, it just can't! I know you're lying, you bastard! Where is he? TELL ME THE TRUTH!!" Hermione Granger screamed at the Headmaster of Hogwarts, pounding and pummeling everything in her sight--and out--with her clenched fists. Professor Minerva McGonagal was holding the distressed girl back from the Headmaster, and was much bruised for it.  
  
"Hermione! Get a hold of yourself! I know this is hard; we all do! But you have got to come to your senses! Harry is not coming back; you must understand and accept that! Professor Dumbledore would never lie to you, of which you are well aware!" Professor McGonagal spoke up sharply.  
  
Hermione froze, then slowly turned around as much as she could in the vice-like grip her teacher had on her. She glared viciously, a look that would turn any into ice. "Harry. Is. Not. Dead." She spoke quietly, dangerously. "And that ... that ... that LYING BASTARD KNOWS WHERE HE IS! TELL ME WHERE HE IS, OR I'LL HEX YOU INTO NEXT CENTURY, YOU BASTARD!!" She began to scream again, turning back to Dumbledore to yell into his pain-torn face.  
  
"Hermione, we have established that I am a bastard. Now, please, calm down so that I may explain things to you," Dumbledore began.  
  
"Explain? Explain?!" Hermione asked incredulously. "What the HELL is there to 'explain'?! YOU LIAR, TELL ME WHERE HARRY IS!!" She screamed at the top of her voice, and everyone in Dumbledore's office flinched at the sound. It came from deep within her, a pain so deep that none there could begin to comprehend--though her sore throat was trying.  
  
Ron Weasley strode up to Hermione, gripped her shoulders, and forced her to look at him. "Hermione," he said, voice quavering. "Hermione, it's all right."  
  
At the sight of Ron, Hermione seemed to shrink and wither, her eyes searching his, looking for truth and comfort. Seeing both in the sad blue, she reached her arms out and around his waist, pulling herself as close to him as physically possible. "Ron?" she asked, anguished.  
  
He smiled sadly at her, and pulled her even closer. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed, hands clutching his shirt as though she were trying to hold onto reality. Ron lowered his face into her hair, bending over quite a bit to do so, and squeezed his eyes shut against the grief. Tears slowly leaked out of the corners of his eyes, and he swallowed hard. Hermione continued to shed despairing tears.  
  
Unnoticed by the two, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagal, followed by Remus Lupin, quietly exited the room.  
  
Much later, after standing in an embrace for far too long, and after weeping until tears came no more, Ron and Hermione broke apart. They sank to the floor as one, backs to the wall, and held each other. Hermione sighed, drained, as usually happens following a great emotional episode.  
  
They sat like this for some time, the only noise in the room that of Fawkes preening his feathers and occasionally letting out a comforting musical note.  
  
"Ron?" Hermione finally broke the silence with a half-whisper.  
  
"Yeah?" he answered. Neither moved an inch while speaking, staring desolately ahead.  
  
"Is he ... was he ... is it true?" She choked out.  
  
Ron took a long time to answer, trying to come up with the right words. Not finding any, he merely put his arm around her and drew her close. "Yeah," he said, feeling lost.  
  
Neither seemed able to cry any more, so both sat, curled up together, on the floor of Professor Dumbledore's office.  
  
This is how they were found, an hour later, when both had fallen into a sleep so deep not even the sound of Fawkes greeting his master woke them.  
  
"Yes, Fawkes, I know. I know," Dumbledore said heavily, sitting down in his chair. "I know," he repeated.  
  
Sitting back, he crossed his hands over his stomach, and closed his eyes, waiting for the two teenagers to wake.  
  
Author's Note: Well, that was considerably longer than the prologue, don't you think? I'm very pleased with this story, even though I'm not very far along yet. I have some good ideas for it, as opposed to some other fics of mine, that have no plot and just ... exist. Please read and review! I like knowing people are reading this. Otherwise, it just might be forgotten... gasp I'd hate to have another story to add to my list of "Abandoned". I have issues finnishing stories, I'll admit it, so you guys will have to nag at me, ok? Thanks!  
  
Extra Author's Note: Okay, I'm gonna level with you guys... I wrote this ages ago, lost it, forgot about it, and only just found it again last night. Thing is, I'm not sure where I was going with this anymore, so unless you really want me to continue, I'll probably just do exactly what I was afraid of before, and add it to my Abandoned list. :( So, if you truly love it and want me to continue the story, please, please, please review and tell me so!! I really need that right now... And also, did I make you cry? (It even made ME cry; am I the only baby here?) 


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hey, finally a new chapter. Let me know what you think--I was so tired when I wrote this that I'm really afraid it's turned out poorly... Please tell me what you think!! Cheers! :)  
  
Don't Leave Me All Alone  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Acceptance  
  
Hermione's struggles woke Ron immediately. The girl had been nestled snugly against him, but now fought an imaginary foe, tears leaking from her closed eyes, and a silent scream struggling to be let loose. Ron shook Hermione by the shoulders, waking her. She looked around the room wildly, still futilely assaulting the air, before catching sight of Ron. Hermione stopped, looked tearfully at Ron with big, bright eyes, and then seemed to collapse on herself, weeping silently, eyes clenched tight, teeth bared in pain, head bowed. Ron pulled her toward him, but though she did not pull back, she did not return the embrace.  
  
Dumbledore watched this all with concern, but knowing he would not be welcome to Hermione, he stood quietly, and started toward his office door. Just as his hand reached the decorative doorknob, however, a quiet, unemotional voice stopped him in his tracks.  
  
"Wait." He turned around to see Hermione kneeling on the floor, wearing a passive, dull mask, but in her eyes, a sorrow so great it terrified him.  
  
"Headmaster. I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to doubt you. You would never lie to me. I apologize." Her voice sounded exactly as she looked–unemotional, monotonous, but somewhere behind the wall she had built, a tangled garden of anguish, fright, and hopelessness.  
  
Quickly, the man went to his protégée student, pulling her to her feet and embracing her stiff form. "Never apologize, my dear. Never," he insisted, then abruptly let her go. When she made no response, he blinked back tears, cleared his throat, and hurried from the room.  
  
Hermione turned slowly to face Ron, who had been staring at her with a mixed expression of fear and worry. "I'm going to go pack. Mrs. Weasley will need comfort. She was like a mother to Harry." With that, she turned and walked from the room.  
  
"Wait, Hermione, I'll help you pack!" Ron shouted after her, suddenly afraid that she might intend to do herself harm. Her calm, dead attitude scared him. Hermione made no effort to acknowledge that she had heard, so Ron tore down the winding stairs leading from Dumbledore's office, catching up with her quickly.  
  
He fell in step beside her, looking at her with worry for a moment, before remembering why everyone was so sad. His hand found hers, gripping it tight, and they walked like this–Hermione pretending the world didn't exist, Ron clinging to his only counterpart left–all the way to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
Author's Note: Don't forget to review--I really need to know what you thought of it!!!!! Thanks a million to WindWriter17, too, for yelling at me! :D 


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